Wednesday 31 March 2010

Stupid is as stupid does

This is my 100th post, and I was planning on writing something 'deep and meaningful'. Instead I'm going to write about something stupid and embarassing.

You know those injuries, always self-inflicted, where the pain hurts less than the embarassment of telling someone what you did? Well, I was giving the lambs their first set of worming treatments and vaccinations this morning. I was feeling proper farmer-like, doing my own basic vet work, practicing my sub-cutaneous injections (yeah, I'm totally down with the lingo). And while daydreaming about how self-reliant I was being, I accidentally injected some lamb vaccine - which includes a dose of Clostridium bacteria - into my own hand. After I'd already stuck it in the lamb's neck once. That's two chances for infection then.

Well done farmer Jen.

The long and short of it is it's not life-threatening. The doctor gave me a week's course of antibiotics and my tetanus is up to date anyway (If you've read my blog before, you will know that this is not the first stupid thing I've done). But calling the vet, who's a friend of ours, to ask him what the procedure is if you..um..accidentally...inject yourself with..ahhh...lamb vaccine? I am never going to live this down.

And the worst part is that I can't drink while taking antibiotics, so no evening 'Brandy and Ginger' for a week!

We started egg collecting today, and as we walked down the rows filling our baskets it started to snow. We've just stoked up the wood stove and dinner's in the oven. We're due a cold snap and temperatures of -1C overnight. The wind chill is making it worse.

Duckling update: Barbara is being a super-duper mom replacement and the ducklings are being well-tended. At least someone around here knows what she's doing .

14 comments:

Middle Cottage Diary said...

Ah these things happen! Well done on your 100th post and a shame you can't celebrate with a brandy. I will have a glass of wine for you.

Jennifer Montero said...

MCD - You are too easy on me! Enjoy your wine ;-)

Jenny Debeaux said...

Bless you and congrats on your 100th post!

You're not the only one who does daft things
I took some superglue into school the other day (we've run out of just about everything at the moment) and refused to let the kids use it. After all, I didn't want them to stick balsa to finger nearly for ever, did I?

Unfortunately, I thought that the glue was a gel - it wasn't - and I was the one to stick the balsa to my finger! I peeled my fingeroff the wood, taking some of the balsa with it, and it was painful, too! It was really very silly and I kept sniggering about it for the rest of the lesson!

Colette said...

Are you up to a bit of crochet teaching Thursday am. Text me what time you will be back from egg collecting. I was thinking around 10.30 - 11?

Jennifer Montero said...

Jenny - Thanks for sharing your story. It makes me feel I'm not alone in those lapses of concentration or common sense. You have to laugh about it all really. I hope your finger is healing.

Colette - Crochet lesson please! 10.30-11ish is fine. Egg collecting at 3pm so no worries there.

Paula said...

Colette! She just told you she stuck a needle in her hand, and you want to trust her with a hook?!

Paula said...

Just kidding! But honestly, that was a funny post, although I'm sorry you had to hurt yourself in order to be able to write it. Happy 100th!

Tamar@StarvingofftheLand said...

Can I admit to a frisson of schadenfreude when I read that something you did went a bit off the tracks? It's not that I don't want your life to be perfect -- I do. It's just that there is some comfort in knowing, as Jenny said, that I'm "not the only one who does daft things."

Congratulations on your 100th post! And I think this is a perfect landmark -- a testament to the real-life difficulties of doing what you do, and the necessity of taking them in stride. Deep and meaningful is overrated.

Terry Scoville said...

Happy 100th post and a memorable one it is indeed. Glad to the ducklings and Barbara are doing well.

Jennifer Montero said...

Tamar - If you knew how truly bumbling I really am, you would feel pity not schadenfreude!

My history includes lopping off the top of my thumb, being thrown by a horse face first into a pile of logs, sledding into a tree, and running over myself with my own quad bike. I have stupidity in spades. If you don't believe me - watch this space!

Terry - Thanks for your kind wishes for me and the ducklings!

Kevin F said...

Jen- Think of these mishaps as practice.
(I have had my share... my nickname is "crash" after all) Just like going to the range and shooting 500 or so rounds, they will serve you well in the event life knocks you down hard, you will have had all that practice picking yourself back up again.

Jennifer Montero said...

Kevin "Crash" F - I agree, and as I've got older I've learned to laugh at it all (at least one the pain subsides...). The blog is so you all can laugh at it with me.

martha in mobile said...

We all have such moments -- it takes a special person to reveal them for all to see! And don't you hate that these things happen when we are feeling (justifiably and very briefly) smug? Though perhaps the most painful part is knowing the lambs are talking about you behind your back...

Jennifer Montero said...

Martha - Absolutely! The minute you start feeling smug, karma gives you a well-deserved slap. Laughing? and here I thought the lambs were just braying for food...